1. 1. Identify a communications difficulty that occurred when you used an electronic channel (Email or SMS) that you believe would not have occurred had you delivered the message in a face-to-face meeting. What was there about the use of the electronic channel that was at the heart of the problem that is not an issue when talking face-to-face? If you have an opportunity to send the same kind of message again by an electronic means, what would you do differently, and why?
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3. 2. Firms are becoming ever more dependent upon electronic communication channels for many reasons, including: virtual employees, growth of project complexity, the global marketplace, and the fact that customers can now come from everywhere. Do you believe that high quality virtual presence (video, audio, shared documents, etc.) is becoming more important? Explain your answer.
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5. 3. It has been argued that bureaucratic control systems are a holdover from a time when businesses, products, technologies, and society itself ran, and changed, at a far slower pace than it does today. Due to the rapid growth of global competition, the acceleration of technology change, and the growing interconnectedness of individuals some believe that bureaucracies should be replaced by more agile and dynamic mechanisms. For example, statistical process control, one of a number of tools and methods W. Edwards Deming successfully advocated after World War II, strived to improve quality and productivity by removing sources of variation. Detractors assert that business in today’s agile world changes too quickly for statistical process control to be useful. Attack or defend the position that the basic ideas of bureaucratic control systems are still relevant in today’s world, and support your argument.
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7. 4. Some argue that the traditional role of managers and bureaucratic control systems are in conflict with the principles and processes of self-management and self-designing teams. It has been suggested that managers need to change to be more like coaches in order for such agile teams to be effective. Attack or defend this idea and support your position.

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